Furniture construction



March 12, 1963 c. c. WIELAND FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 20, 1960 INVENTOR. C/l'frbra', n l'e/anc/ (Q mam ZmmfW-M March 12, 1963 c. c. WIELAND FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 20, 1960 INVENTOR. fi/f/frd 63 W//anc/ BY v flTTOR/VEYS United States Patent 3,081,130 FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Clifford C. Wieland, 503 N. Euclid Ave., Bay City, Mich. Filed June 20, 1960, Ser. No. 37,519 6 Claims. (Cl. 297-455) This invention relates to furniture construction, and more particularly to an upholstered construction which can be used for chairs, sofas, davenponts and sectionals of all sizes. 7

One of the prime objects of the invention is to design an article offurniture, comprising a one piece back and seat frame, which is of strong and durable construction, and which is relatively inexpensive .to manufacture both in small and large volume.

.Another object of the invention is to design an article of furniture on which thelmain frame used is substantially the same for chairs,.i sofas, sectionals, etc, which frame can be formed of plywood, fiberglass, plastic, or any other desired material, and in which various cushioning means can be installed to provide a comfortable item of furniture of pleasing design and appearance.

A further object is to provide a one piece, unitary, back piece and seat construction, including bracing means for reinforcing thefrarne and for supporting the cushions, spring-means, and back rest in proper position.

Still a further'obj ect is to provide an article of furniture of pleasing appearance which can be readily constructed and assembled, which is comfortable in use, and to which various types of cushions and upholstery are readily applicable.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportion, and minor details of construction, without departing from the spirit, or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal, sectional, side elevational view of an upholstered chair constructed in accordance with my invention.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modified construction of the upholstery and seat spring.

FIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 1, showing however a foam rubber back rest and seat section.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a settee frame.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings in which I have shown the preferred embodiments of my invention. Basically, there is provided a one-piece molded frame F, comprising back and seat sections 8 and 9 respectively, the back section being inclined with relation to the seat, and the frame is supported on front and rear legs wand 11 as usual.

This frame F can be formed of plywood, metal, plastic, fiberglass or combinations thereof, and angularly shaped brackets 12 are secured to the inner face of the back section, the lower leg 13 of each bracket projecting inwardly as shown, and is secured to a longitudinally disposed bottom back rail 14 which spans said frame, the ends of the rail being disposed slightly above the side walls 15 to avoid frictional contact and any squeak or noise. A depending section 16 is secured to the lower face of the rail 14 and for a purpose to be later described.

The top back rail 17 is mounted on and secured to the upper, inner, face of the back sect-ion 8 by means of clips (not shown), glue, or in any other approved man- 3,031,130 Patented Mar. 12, 1963 ner, and forms an anchor for a sinuous, wire type spring 18, the lower end of which is connected to the inner edge of the rail 14 in a similar manner to the upper end, and a foam rubber back strip 19 covers said spring, with a fabric cover 20 disposed over the back strip and forming a finish as usual.

A front rail 21 spans the front end of the frame F (see FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing), and an inwardly projecting ledge 22 is secured to the upper edge face thereof, a foam rubber cushioning strip 23 being provided on said ledge, the upper face of the strip being inwardly angle-d as at 24 so that the loose seat cushion C which rests on the spring unit S, will not shift and float, and a strip of fabric 25 covers the front rail and angled section to provide a neat finish.

The inwardly extending ledge 22 also forms an overhang and upper wall of a recess R to hold the front end of a spring uni-t S in position, the rear end of the unit butting against the bar 16 which forms a stop to prevent rearward shifting thereof.

This spring unit S, shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing, is a pre-co'vered unit which is not fastened to the frame, but is forced underneath the back rail 14 and against section 16, the front end being butted up against the front rail 21, thus preventing the unit from moving from side to side or so-called floating, and it will be obvious that this spring unit can be readily removed or replaced without in any manner altering the frame or upholstery.

The top back rail 17 strengthens the frame later-ally and also serves as a support for the back spring 18, which is secured to the upper and lower rails 14 and 17 respectively.

The construction shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings employs the basic one-piece frame idea the same as FIG. 1; however, a sinuous wire type spring 26 replaces the spring unit S, and this spring is shaped to form a seat, and the upper edge of the front rail 22 is bored as at 27 to accommodate the downwardly bent ends 28 of the spring to anchor the front end thereof. The rear end of the spring projects beyond the back rest and is reversely bent as at 29 to form a V, and anchor blocks 3b are provided on the inner face of the seat section, being bored as at 31' to accommodate the ends 32 of said spring.

The back construction is also slightly modified, the wire type spring 18 being secured to the rail 14, thence projecting upwardly; thence being turned upon itself and extending outwardly at an angle to form a V (as at 34) with the free end of the spring secured to the upper rail 17 in any approved manner. A curled hair or foam rubber back 35 covers the face of the spring, and here again there is a fabric covering 36 to form a neat finish, and this fabric can be extended over the top and then down- Wardly on the back section if so desired.

In FIG. 3 of the drawings, I have shown a slightly modified construction, the basic frame F being exactly the same, but the seat spring are eliminated; in this design, the frame is formed of polyurethane foam 37 which is activated. This is poured into the mold (not shown) which fits over the sections 8 and 9, said mold being so shaped as to provide the desired profile and thicknesses or density to suit.

In FIG. 4 of the drawings, I have shown a fragmentary view of a standard sectional G, the upholstered portion of the back being omitted to more clearly show the construction; the basic frame however, is made in the same manner shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, and the seat section can also be made as shown in these same figures, it is merely a matter of choice by the manufacturer.

While in the instant application, I have shown the exposed portions of the frame as fabric covered, it will be obvious that it can also be covered with a face veneer (not shown).

The fact that the basic frame can be utilized for making up a number of different units of various sizes, greatly simplifies the manufacture and materially cuts production costs, no expensive special equipmentis required, and the construction lends itself to both small and large volume.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific embodiments shown and described, but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention, and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

1. .An article of manufacture comprising, a one-piece back and seat frame, ahorizontally disposed top rail secured to the upper inner edge'o'f the back section, a bracketsecured to the inner face of the back section, and a horizontally disposed lower bottom rail secured to the lower face of said bracket, a spring member secured to the bottom rail and top rail respectively, a strip of resilient material secured to and covering the exposed fa-ce'of said back spring and having a turned upper end, a yield-able strip secured to the upper face of said top rail and to the lower face of the turned end of the resilient material, a self contained spring .seat removably mounted on said seatframe, and a seat member provided on said seat frame section.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which a stop is provided on the lower face of the bottom rail, and a front seat rail spanning the front end of the seat frame and having an inwardly projecting overhanging lip forming a pocket, and a spring unit slidably insertable in said pocket and interposed between said front seat rail and bottom rails stop respectively.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which a front seat rail is secured to the end of the seat frame section, an inwardly projecting overhanging lip provided on the front seat rail, and an inwardly pitched resilient strip provided on said l-ip section for accommodating and'securing the seat member.

4. An article of furniture comprising a one-piece back and seat frame, brackets secured to said back frame, a top rail secured to the upper end of the back frame, a bottom rail secured to the lower face of said brackets, a sinuous type, wire spring anchored to said bottom rail and to the top rail respectively, upholstery forming a covering for said springs, a front rail spanning the front of the seat frame, aninwardly projecting overhanging lip member secured to the upper edge thereof and spanning the front end of said frame seat section, and resilient means anchored to said seat frame and forming a support for same.

5. An article of manufacture comprising, a unitary onepiece back and seat frame, a bracket on the back section, a bottom rail mounted on the lower face of th free end of said bracket and spaced from the inner face of said back section, a stop depending from said back rail, aspring secured to the upper end of the back section and bottomrail respectively, a resilient back forming a faoing for the spring, yieldable fabric connecting the upper end of the'back section and the upper end of the resilient back material, a front rail spanning the seat frame, and a resilient seat unit mounted on said seat frame and interposed between said stop and front rail respectively for securing said seat unit in position therebetween.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 in which the front rail and back rail overlie the front and rear end sections of the seat unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,231,346 Riesing et al Feb. 11, 1941 2,913,041 Math-ison Nov. 17, 1959 2,936;824 Neely May 17, 1960 2,954,078 Kuhlmann Sept. 27, 1960 3,030,147 K innebrew Apr. 17, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 739,821 Germany Oct. 6, 1943 699,721 Great Britain Nov. 11, 1953 776,484 Great Britain June 5, 1957 

1. AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING, A ONE-PIECE BACK AND SEAT FRAME, A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED TOP RAIL SECURED TO THE UPPER INNER EDGE OF THE BACK SECTION, A BRACKET SECURED TO THE INNER FACE OF THE BACK SECTION, AND A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED LOWER BOTTOM RAIL SECURED TO THE LOWER FACE OF SAID BRACKET, A SPRING MEMBER SECURED TO THE BOTTOM RAIL AND TOP RAIL RESPECTIVELY, A STRIP OF RESILIENT MATERIAL SECURED TO AND COVERING THE EXPOSED FACE OF SAID BACK SPRING AND HAVING A TURNED UPPER END, A YIELDABLE STRIP SECURED TO THE UPPER FACE OF SAID TOP RAIL AND TO THE LOWER FACE OF THE TURNED END OF THE RESILIENT MATERIAL, A SELF CONTAINED SPRING SEAT REMOVABLY 